"it takes two to tango" meaning in English

See it takes two to tango in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Audio: En-au-it takes two to tango.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=it takes two to tango}} it takes two to tango
  1. (idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict. Wikipedia link: Takes two to tango (idiom) Tags: idiomatic Categories (topical): Two Derived forms: it takes two to tangle Related terms: tango Translations (some things need the active cooperation of two parties): انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين (Arabic), ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش [Egyptian-Arabic] (Arabic), 一個巴掌拍不響 (Chinese Mandarin), 一个巴掌拍不响 (yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng) (Chinese Mandarin), der skal to til tango (Danish), tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi (Finnish), kukaan ei riitele yksinään (Finnish), kukaan ei tappele yksinään (note: about fights or conflicts) (Finnish), il faut être deux pour danser le tango [rare] (French), kettőn áll a vásár (Hungarian), 喧嘩両成敗 (kenka ryōseibai) (alt: けんかりょうせいばい) (Japanese), det trengs 2 til tango (Norwegian), do tanga trzeba dwojga (Polish), для та́нго нужны́ дво́е (dlja tángo nužný dvóje) (Russian), dos no discuten si uno no quiere (Spanish), det är inte ens fel om två träter (english: regarding conflicts) (Swedish)

Download JSON data for it takes two to tango meaning in English (5.1kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "it takes two to tango"
      },
      "expansion": "it takes two to tango",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English proverbs",
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
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        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Two",
          "orig": "en:Two",
          "parents": [
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            "All topics",
            "Terms by semantic function",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "it takes two to tangle"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't do it by myself, and neither can you – it takes two to tango."
        },
        {
          "text": "He started it! Well, it takes two to tango."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "id": "en-it_takes_two_to_tango-en-proverb-azL09eaW",
      "links": [
        [
          "cooperation",
          "cooperation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "tango"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ar",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين"
        },
        {
          "code": "arz",
          "lang": "Arabic",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "tags": [
            "Egyptian-Arabic"
          ],
          "word": "ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "一個巴掌拍不響"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "一个巴掌拍不响"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "der skal to til tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kukaan ei riitele yksinään"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "note": "about fights or conflicts",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kukaan ei tappele yksinään"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "il faut être deux pour danser le tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "kettőn áll a vásár"
        },
        {
          "alt": "けんかりょうせいばい",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kenka ryōseibai",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "喧嘩両成敗"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "det trengs 2 til tango"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "do tanga trzeba dwojga"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "dlja tángo nužný dvóje",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "для та́нго нужны́ дво́е"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "dos no discuten si uno no quiere"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "english": "regarding conflicts",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
          "word": "det är inte ens fel om två träter"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Takes two to tango (idiom)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-it takes two to tango.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4e/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it takes two to tango"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "it takes two to tangle"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the song Takes Two to Tango, written and composed in 1952 by Al Hoffman and Dick Manning.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "it takes two to tango"
      },
      "expansion": "it takes two to tango",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "tango"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English proverbs",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with placeholder \"it\"",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
        "en:Two"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I can't do it by myself, and neither can you – it takes two to tango."
        },
        {
          "text": "He started it! Well, it takes two to tango."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "cooperation",
          "cooperation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Takes two to tango (idiom)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-it takes two to tango.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4e/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/En-au-it_takes_two_to_tango.ogg",
      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ar",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "انها رقصَة التانغو تتطلب شخصين"
    },
    {
      "code": "arz",
      "lang": "Arabic",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "tags": [
        "Egyptian-Arabic"
      ],
      "word": "ايد لوحدها ماتسقفش"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "一個巴掌拍不響"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "yī ge bāzhang pāi bù xiǎng",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "一个巴掌拍不响"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "der skal to til tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "tanssiin tarvitaan aina kaksi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kukaan ei riitele yksinään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "note": "about fights or conflicts",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kukaan ei tappele yksinään"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "il faut être deux pour danser le tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "kettőn áll a vásár"
    },
    {
      "alt": "けんかりょうせいばい",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kenka ryōseibai",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "喧嘩両成敗"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "det trengs 2 til tango"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "do tanga trzeba dwojga"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "dlja tángo nužný dvóje",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "для та́нго нужны́ дво́е"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "dos no discuten si uno no quiere"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "english": "regarding conflicts",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "some things need the active cooperation of two parties",
      "word": "det är inte ens fel om två träter"
    }
  ],
  "word": "it takes two to tango"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-24 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (82c8ff9 and f4967a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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